Key Publishing | Soviet-Era Airliners: The Final Three Decades
Reviewed by Kevin Williams
Publisher: Key Publishing
Author: Christopher Buckley
Publishing Date: 2021
ISBN: 978-1-913870-62-1
Pages: 128
Always one to gobble up "any" new references on airliners in general, I just naturally had to check this book out.
Some will perhaps recognize the name Christopher Buckley, as he has already penned a few rather oddball titles (my perspective only). As far as I am aware, this title may well be his first foray into airliner subjects, but he's done a pretty good job of it, in my opinion.
This particular book, obviously explores the many truly iconic Soviet era airliners, and it certainly does not disappoint. The Tu-124, IL-62, An-24, Il-96, Tu-204, Il-96, etc. are all present here, and all in full color imagery.
While there are, at present, no 1:32 kits of any of these aircraft (at least that I'm aware of), and for good reason, as they'd be very expensive, not to mention huge, there are at least some decent 1:144 kits available, of which the dedicated airline modeler types are fully aware.
Typical Photo Quality to be Found Throughout
Summation
To me, the high point of this volume, is the overall appeal of the subject matter, all packaged in a smooth, attractive presentation.
I'll have to say that, to me, this book is very good value, given the overall intensity of the content.
For any and all Soviet airliner fans out there, or airliner fans in general, this book is most definitely recommended.
(Not a selling point, as such, but the cover has a nice tactile "feel" to it, reflecting, in my opinion, a dedication to overall quality of presentation that I very much like.)
On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d rate this book as a solid 10, no question about it. For the many airliner enthusiasts out there, I see this as a volume you may well want to add to your library. I know I'll certainly cherish mine.
My review copy compliments of Casemate Publishers. Many thanks to Casemate, it's truly an outstanding book, really top-notch stuff, and I'm very pleased to now have it.
Footnote
Key Publishing has several other interesting volumes, either ready to go, or soon to be published, and I'll hopefully be taking a look at a few of those in the near future, which I now eagerly look forward to.
© Kevin Williams 2023
This review was published on Tuesday, January 24 2023; Last modified on Sunday, January 29 2023